


Santa Baby

by fauvistfly



Series: tumblring towards ecstasy [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mentions of the Hale fire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-29
Updated: 2015-12-29
Packaged: 2018-05-10 03:18:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5568835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fauvistfly/pseuds/fauvistfly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Derek wakes up on Christmas Day, one year older, he’s pleasantly surprised by the feeling of anticipation building in him. For years, Christmas morning brought bittersweet memories of celebrating his birthday with his family and the knowledge that it would never really be the same.</p><p>But this year, his birthday isn’t a secret.</p><p>In fact, it ends up being the best birthday in years.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Santa Baby

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Infectedcolors](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Infectedcolors/gifts).



> Originally posted on tumblr a year ago, as a birthday gift to [infected colors](http://infectiouspunk.tumblr.com/). I'm just now getting around to posting this on ao3.

When Derek wakes up on Christmas Day, one year older, he’s pleasantly surprised by the feeling of anticipation building in him. For years, Christmas morning brought bittersweet memories of celebrating his birthday with his family and the knowledge that it would never really be the same.

But this year, his birthday isn’t a secret. Somehow Stiles had gotten it into his head that the group had to have a pack calendar on Google where everyone could share pack meetings and important dates and birthdays—the full moon, of course, is a repeated date. So Derek had finally caved and admitted that his birthday was on Christmas, which meant he’d endured Stiles’ calling him Santa Baby for a full week until he’d finally gotten distracted by something else.

Derek isn’t thinking so highly of himself that he’s expecting a surprise party or anything, but he doesn’t think it’s completely arrogant to think something might happen.

The pack is having a Christmas party at Scott’s, so Derek whips up a batch of Laura’s surprise brownies (they have mint chips instead of chocolate chips, perfect for the holidays) and drives on over.

Most of the pack is already there. Lydia is setting the table, placing a beautiful bouquet of snow-white roses at the center of the table. Scott is busy in the kitchen, doing his best to clean the dishes that his mom dirties as she prepares the food. Isaac is there as well, trying to help Scott but mostly just standing around. Lydia tells him where to put the brownies—there’s a separate table for desserts—and then tells him to go hang out in the living room so he doesn’t get in the way. _Love Actually_ is playing, so he accepts a glass of egg nog from Isaac, who ends up joining him on the couch. 

Stiles and his father don’t end up arriving until an hour later, right before the food is served. Stiles mouths “Happy Birthday” from across the room, but he’s quickly pulled into the kitchen by Melissa to help finish up the food preparations. 

The food is delicious, and the house is filled with warmth and laughter. Once bellies are filled to the point of bursting, everyone helps put away plates and then head towards the living room where the enormous tree is brightly protecting mounds and mounds of presents.

Soon, the floor is covered in wrapping paper, and Derek is in possession of two more henleys, an expensive-smelling shaving kit, and a Mets t-shirts.

“Stiles, you can’t just give me a t-shirt and expect me to trade loyalties,” Derek says with a roll of his eyes. He hears the Sheriff laugh, his face red from the strong egg nog.

“Derek, Stiles has been trying to convert me for years, but I will always be a Dodgers fan. You and I can drive him crazy together,” he says with a friendly slap on the back. They both ignore Stiles’ protests, and Derek tries not to show how much the Sheriff’s easy affection touches him. 

They’ve finally finished opening Christmas presents when Melissa comes into the room holding a candle-covered cake. The lights go off, and Derek is serenaded with an off-key rendition of Happy Birthday led by Scott and Stiles, who are laughing more at each other’s antics than looking at him. 

Still, he can’t help but be touched by the gesture. He makes a wish, a secret secret wish, and then blows out the candles. Everyone cheers, and then Derek gets bombarded with another set of gifts.

Two more henleys, an expensive-smelling body lotion, a pair of sleep pants with the Mets logo, and a Santa hat that says, “Santa Baby.”

Derek rolls his eyes and tamps down the feeling that, though the gifts are nice, they’re not particularly personalized or thoughtful, both the Christmas gifts and the birthday gifts—more like the generic gifts that are for colleagues, in-laws, acquaintances. They’re not like the gifts Stiles and Scott exchanged, which made sense to no one else but made them burst into giggles like they were 6 years old again.

Derek immediately snuffs out those thoughts and gives everyone genuine hugs and smiles. These people, who have seen him at his worst and still accepted him, are celebrating his birthday—the first time in years. Derek slices the cake cheerfully, laughs at the way Stiles gets frosting all over his face, lets Lydia fix his collar and give him an extra tight hug.

Eventually, the night winds down. Stiles and his dad take off soon after cake and ice cream; the Sheriff has an early shift, and Stiles isn’t going to let his dad drive home after the way he guzzled that egg nog. Derek decides he’ll leave as well. He and Scott are definitely on better terms, but there’s no question that Stiles is the link between them. Once Stiles leaves, Derek feels a little superfluous. He thanks everyone, grabs his pile of gifts and a Tupperware of leftover cake, and heads to his car.

It’s 10:59. Derek has about 15 minutes to get home before it’s officially his birthday; he’s always done a shadow of what his family used to do for him, and there’s no reason to stop that tradition.

As he drives home, he thinks back on the conversation he had with Stiles, describing what his family used to do. It had been late one night, both of them tired from cleaning the Hale home and getting it habitable again after all the renovations. They’d crashed on the back steps of the porch, the stars clear in the sky above them and the air filled with the night sounds of crickets and quietude. Stiles had asked about his family, about his best memories of the home. Somehow that got him talking about his birthday.

**  
_  
“We always started off doing all the Christmas stuff, the tree, the gifts, the big dinner—all the usual holiday stuff. But at 11:10, my mom would always come out with a cupcake, whichever favorite flavor I wanted that year, and ask me to make a wish. And then, at exactly 11:11, I’d make a wish. I’d close my eyes and blow out the candle, and when I’d open them, everyone would be in birthday hats, holding birthday presents—no more Christmas wrapping paper. My mom always made sure I got my celebration, on that day, because she never wanted me to feel forgotten.” Derek sighs wistfully before he can stop himself._

_Stiles nods, not saying anything but moving closer, close enough that Derek can feel the warmth of his body next to his in the crisp night air. “Any good gifts you remember?”_

_Derek shrugs. “I mean, I got the usual stuff. New baseball glove, newest video game, CD of a band I liked. But one of my favorite memories always came later. My mom would always make sure she got a picture of me that day, and then she’d put it in an album devoted to my birthday—sort of like a baby book? Anyway, it had a picture of me on my birthday from the day I was born all the way to the year she died.” Derek scratches the scruff on his neck. “I lost the book in the fire. Laura wanted to keep it up when we left, but it was hard. And then after…” Derek trails off._

_Stiles nods but doesn’t add anything, sensing that Derek is lost in a haze of memories. They sit in silence, comfortable in the stillness of each other’s company._  
  
**

Derek pulls into his house at 11:09, his head still cloudy with memories. It isn’t until he gets all the way to his door that he realizes someone, Stiles, is inside. He tries not to overthink anything—there’s nothing special about the fact that Stiles is here—and opens the door.

Stiles stands before him, his hands behind his back, his face flushed with nerves. “Uh, hey,” he says with a half grin.

“Hey,” Derek says quietly before turning to shut the door and glancing at the clock above his stove. 11:10. When he turns back to face Stiles, he sees him stretch out his hands.

“Make a wish,” Stiles says softly, a cupcake cradled in his large hand, one single candle nestled in what smells like cream cheese icing on a red velvet cake. 

Feeling his heart clench, Derek swallows slowly and takes a step closer. He can’t speak, doesn’t trust his voice, but he gives Stiles a watery smile. He looks at the clock again. 11:11. Closing his eyes, he leans forward and blows out the candle. Not wanting his tears to spill out, Derek keeps his eyes closed for a moment longer, his hand holding Stiles’ beneath the cupcake. Gently, he pulls Stiles forward until he can feel Stiles breath against his lips and hear his heart beating rapidly. Their lips press together chastely, and there is a beautiful ache in the way their hearts both skip a beat at the touch. When Derek finally opens his eyes, he chuckles at the silly birthday hat on Stiles’ head. He can sense Stiles’ eyes shining softly back at him, full of love and hope. A bit overwhelmed, Derek looks down shyly but gives his hand a squeeze.

They eat the cupcake together, knees pressed against each other and pulses jumping with possibility. They’ve done this innumerable times, sat on this very couch, even closer than they’re currently sitting, but there’s something about the acknowledgement of mutual attraction that makes every touch electric and every smile heart-melting. Crumbs drop everywhere, and frosting gets smeared into Derek’s shirt and Stiles’ jeans, but it does nothing to dampen Derek’s spirits. 

“Oh, I have something for you,” Stiles exclaims as he jumps up to grab the gift on the counter.

“You already gave me something, remember? A Santa hat?” Derek says as he gets up to brush the crumbs off of his clothes before sitting back down again. 

“That wasn’t really a gift. I mean, it was, but that was because I didn’t want to give this to you in front of everyone else.” Stiles hands over a neatly wrapped gift topped with a little blue ribbon. 

“Why? Should I be worried about what this is? You’re not giving me sex toys already, are you?” Derek’s voice dies out when he unwraps the gift to reveal a sleek, black photo album. He opens it gingerly, as if scared of what he’ll find. Inside, he finds pages of himself, one every year since the fire. He inhales sharply when he sees photos from his high school yearbook, ones that he’d completely forgotten. There’s his mug shot, onto which Stiles has photoshopped a birthday hat at a rakish angle. And then, photos that are actually from Stiles, photos from the various Christmas parties they’ve had, ones he never even knew were taken. Somehow, Stiles has managed to gather one photo from every year since the fire. He exhales slowly, aware of how immense this gift is. 

“Is it okay?” Stiles asks hesitantly, chewing on his lip. “I didn’t know if—“ 

Derek stops his sentence with a kiss before hiding his face in the crook of Stiles’ neck and holding onto him as if he’s a lifeline. “It’s perfect,” Derek murmurs. He sniffs quietly and rubs his eyes against Stiles’ shirt before pulling back. “Really, I can’t tell you what it means to me, that you did this.” Derek looks down at the book again, hands caressing the leather cover.

“Still one more to add,” Stiles says gently as he holds up his camera phone, giving him a soft smile.

Derek breathes in deeply and then nods. “Yeah, okay.” He grabs the candle from the remains of the cupcake and holds it up to his face, proof that it really is his birthday.

Stiles takes a picture before wrapping his arm around him and taking one of them together. “Sorry, just had to,” he says right before he takes another one where he lands a sloppy, loud kiss on Derek’s cheek. 

Derek shrugs and leans into Stiles’ arm. “It’ll be nice to have pics of us together.” 

“Yeah?” Stiles says, his face beaming as he pulls Derek in closer. He’s about to lean in for another kiss when he says, “Oh! I have one more thing!” He jumps up again, leaving Derek to fall over into the space left behind. He lets himself settle on the couch, head leaning against the arm rest, when Stiles trots back and then dumps himself on top of Derek’s legs.

Derek huffs out indignantly but doesn’t push Stiles off. He opens the gift quickly, this one much less neatly wrapped, and then laughs as he pulls out a pair of Mets boxers. “Seriously, Stiles? 

“I figured if things didn’t go as planned, I could pass it off as another gag gift. And if things went well, then,” Stiles pauses as he waggles his eyebrows, “I could make you try them on for me.” He laughs as he dodges Derek’s tickling and ends up falling onto Derek’s chest once the torture stops.

Derek pulls him in close, letting Stiles nestle comfortably on top of him. “Thanks again,” Derek whispers as he breathes in Stiles’ comforting scent.

“Happy birthday, Derek,” Stiles whispers back. They end up falling asleep in each other’s arms. 

It’s the best birthday Derek has had in years.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! xx
> 
> come visit me on [tumblr](http://fauvistfly.tumblr.com) for pretty people and pretty food


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